This chapter emphasizes the wide array of biological products from which humans have benefited that derive from lineages marked by reticulate evolution. The categories addressed include organisms ...
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This chapter emphasizes the wide array of biological products from which humans have benefited that derive from lineages marked by reticulate evolution. The categories addressed include organisms with functions as varied as companionship, drugs, building materials, and clothing.Less

Reticulate evolution and beneficial organisms—part I

Michael L. Arnold

Published in print: 2008-10-02

This chapter emphasizes the wide array of biological products from which humans have benefited that derive from lineages marked by reticulate evolution. The categories addressed include organisms with functions as varied as companionship, drugs, building materials, and clothing.

This chapter discusses industrialization in Britain from 1980–1914. It discusses the growth of town halls, factories, and railway stations in Victorian and Edwardian England — built in increasingly ...
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This chapter discusses industrialization in Britain from 1980–1914. It discusses the growth of town halls, factories, and railway stations in Victorian and Edwardian England — built in increasingly ornate styles — which brought ever-increasing demands for building materials. It also covers the industrial landscape and coal production and distribution.Less

Extracting

Roderick Floud

Published in print: 1997-04-24

This chapter discusses industrialization in Britain from 1980–1914. It discusses the growth of town halls, factories, and railway stations in Victorian and Edwardian England — built in increasingly ornate styles — which brought ever-increasing demands for building materials. It also covers the industrial landscape and coal production and distribution.

Amateurs who decided to build their own homes could not do it alone. While how-to magazines and manuals offered useful tips, builders and improvers needed someone to show them how. The federal ...
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Amateurs who decided to build their own homes could not do it alone. While how-to magazines and manuals offered useful tips, builders and improvers needed someone to show them how. The federal government was of little help for owner-builders. Manufacturers were ready to serve the amateur builders by offering new building materials at the expense of lumber. Owner-building also resulted in the emergence of prefabricators and precutters, but credit was also important to amateur building. Lenders, prefabricators, and municipalities, as well as federal agencies across Canada and the United States, were all willing to help homesteaders, but the most consistently important source of financial assistance was the local lumber dealer, who offered a wide choice of materials and tools. Retailers who chose to help amateurs discovered that stocking a lot of materials was not enough; they also had to provide information, assistance with home planning, and advice both in the selection and use of materials and tools. To attract more consumers, lumber dealers had to make their home improvement stores highly attractive.Less

Help for the Amateur

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

Amateurs who decided to build their own homes could not do it alone. While how-to magazines and manuals offered useful tips, builders and improvers needed someone to show them how. The federal government was of little help for owner-builders. Manufacturers were ready to serve the amateur builders by offering new building materials at the expense of lumber. Owner-building also resulted in the emergence of prefabricators and precutters, but credit was also important to amateur building. Lenders, prefabricators, and municipalities, as well as federal agencies across Canada and the United States, were all willing to help homesteaders, but the most consistently important source of financial assistance was the local lumber dealer, who offered a wide choice of materials and tools. Retailers who chose to help amateurs discovered that stocking a lot of materials was not enough; they also had to provide information, assistance with home planning, and advice both in the selection and use of materials and tools. To attract more consumers, lumber dealers had to make their home improvement stores highly attractive.

By 1949, there had been a boom in owner-building across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Owners accounted for a third of all new houses and a quarter of all dwellings of any kind, which were ...
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By 1949, there had been a boom in owner-building across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Owners accounted for a third of all new houses and a quarter of all dwellings of any kind, which were often being constructed outside city limits. Homesteading was taking place everywhere, in clustered developments and scattered locations. Despite the scarcity of building materials, the Canadian and U.S. governments helped to revive the building industry, the latter through a new Veterans Emergency Housing Program. Once they realized the magnitude of the amateur building boom, consumer magazines began to cater to owner-builders by offering assistance in the form of plans and tips. Newspapers, publishers, and plan companies did the same. Together, they convinced consumers that house construction was not as complicated as it sounded, that “anyone can build a house.” The idea caught on among amateur builders frustrated by the postwar housing shortage.Less

Mr. and Mrs. Builder

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

By 1949, there had been a boom in owner-building across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Owners accounted for a third of all new houses and a quarter of all dwellings of any kind, which were often being constructed outside city limits. Homesteading was taking place everywhere, in clustered developments and scattered locations. Despite the scarcity of building materials, the Canadian and U.S. governments helped to revive the building industry, the latter through a new Veterans Emergency Housing Program. Once they realized the magnitude of the amateur building boom, consumer magazines began to cater to owner-builders by offering assistance in the form of plans and tips. Newspapers, publishers, and plan companies did the same. Together, they convinced consumers that house construction was not as complicated as it sounded, that “anyone can build a house.” The idea caught on among amateur builders frustrated by the postwar housing shortage.

Previous studies of aspects of building construction using national dictionaries have shown that traditional forms of building construction using turf and earth have a much wider range of terms than ...
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Previous studies of aspects of building construction using national dictionaries have shown that traditional forms of building construction using turf and earth have a much wider range of terms than masonry. This chapter tests the theory that for the greater part of Scottish history, timber was the basic building material, and that in most classes of building, masonry construction developed in parallel with other northern European countries rather than with the nearest neighbour, England. A search of Scottish dictionaries for French carpentry items introduced into England about a hundred years after the Norman Conquest and adopted by the English language drew a complete blank. It was decided that a much more basic approach had to be taken and the Scottish words for tree, timber, and wood, that is tre, tym(m)er, and wod(e), are investigated.Less

The Use of the Scottish National Dictionaries in the Study of Traditional Construction

Bruce Walker

Published in print: 2005-04-15

Previous studies of aspects of building construction using national dictionaries have shown that traditional forms of building construction using turf and earth have a much wider range of terms than masonry. This chapter tests the theory that for the greater part of Scottish history, timber was the basic building material, and that in most classes of building, masonry construction developed in parallel with other northern European countries rather than with the nearest neighbour, England. A search of Scottish dictionaries for French carpentry items introduced into England about a hundred years after the Norman Conquest and adopted by the English language drew a complete blank. It was decided that a much more basic approach had to be taken and the Scottish words for tree, timber, and wood, that is tre, tym(m)er, and wod(e), are investigated.

Home owners relied on improvement manuals for tips about how to maintain and repair their homes, but there was no home improvement store during the 1920s to offer more specific advice about colors, ...
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Home owners relied on improvement manuals for tips about how to maintain and repair their homes, but there was no home improvement store during the 1920s to offer more specific advice about colors, designs, and materials. Consumer demand would eventually give rise to consumer-friendly retailers, a process that was both painful and protracted. There were two types of building suppliers in the 1920s: large manufacturers and small retailers. The sale of building supplies was dominated by local lumber dealers, who were not accustomed to consumer sales, appeared to have no interest in the consumer trade, and were also slow in trying to shape the consumer market. Another problem was the way building materials, including lumber, was distributed. Seeing an opportunity, new building suppliers sought out consumers by introducing new products to the market ranging from concrete blocks and asphalt shingles to hardboard, gypsum board, and linoleum. They gave consumers what their old counterparts could not through aggressive marketing in the form of advertising and trade promotion.Less

An Industry Unready to Improve

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

Home owners relied on improvement manuals for tips about how to maintain and repair their homes, but there was no home improvement store during the 1920s to offer more specific advice about colors, designs, and materials. Consumer demand would eventually give rise to consumer-friendly retailers, a process that was both painful and protracted. There were two types of building suppliers in the 1920s: large manufacturers and small retailers. The sale of building supplies was dominated by local lumber dealers, who were not accustomed to consumer sales, appeared to have no interest in the consumer trade, and were also slow in trying to shape the consumer market. Another problem was the way building materials, including lumber, was distributed. Seeing an opportunity, new building suppliers sought out consumers by introducing new products to the market ranging from concrete blocks and asphalt shingles to hardboard, gypsum board, and linoleum. They gave consumers what their old counterparts could not through aggressive marketing in the form of advertising and trade promotion.

Competition from mail-order companies forced lumber dealers to rethink their strategy, particularly with respect to consumers. More specifically, lumber dealers diversified their product lines and ...
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Competition from mail-order companies forced lumber dealers to rethink their strategy, particularly with respect to consumers. More specifically, lumber dealers diversified their product lines and loosened ties to the lumber trade. By the early 1920s they were learning to deal with the new competitors. Just when they were gathering momentum, sales of lumber fell due to competition from other building materials that were not only cheaper but also safer or easier to use. Consumers began to spend their money more on other consumer goods, especially automobiles, instead of housing. Residential construction fell into a rut, exacerbated by the Crash of 1929. This building catastrophe paved the way for the emergence of home improvement as an industry and as a social phenomenon. By 1931, the Depression had given birth to the culture of do-it-yourself as a means of home improvement.Less

A Perfect Storm for the Building Industry

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

Competition from mail-order companies forced lumber dealers to rethink their strategy, particularly with respect to consumers. More specifically, lumber dealers diversified their product lines and loosened ties to the lumber trade. By the early 1920s they were learning to deal with the new competitors. Just when they were gathering momentum, sales of lumber fell due to competition from other building materials that were not only cheaper but also safer or easier to use. Consumers began to spend their money more on other consumer goods, especially automobiles, instead of housing. Residential construction fell into a rut, exacerbated by the Crash of 1929. This building catastrophe paved the way for the emergence of home improvement as an industry and as a social phenomenon. By 1931, the Depression had given birth to the culture of do-it-yourself as a means of home improvement.

Nest building behaviours were traditionally thought to be innate, yet we now know that they involve considerable plasticity. Specifically, the materials used to build nests are changeable within the ...
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Nest building behaviours were traditionally thought to be innate, yet we now know that they involve considerable plasticity. Specifically, the materials used to build nests are changeable within the course of an individual’s lifetime and individuals use those materials that benefit either themselves or their offspring most. At the interspecific level, there is variation in the type and shape of nests built and the number of nests built per breeding season. At the intraspecific level meanwhile, there is variation in the time taken to build nests, the materials used to build them and the size of final nests. Such plasticity often serves to create a suitable microclimate for parents and offspring, but nests are also receptacles for eggs and nestlings. Thus, the design of nests is likely to reflect a trade-off between the requirement for a structural platform for the nest contents and for the creation of suitable micro-environments.Less

Functional properties of nests

D.C. DeemingM.C. Mainwaring

Published in print: 2015-08-01

Nest building behaviours were traditionally thought to be innate, yet we now know that they involve considerable plasticity. Specifically, the materials used to build nests are changeable within the course of an individual’s lifetime and individuals use those materials that benefit either themselves or their offspring most. At the interspecific level, there is variation in the type and shape of nests built and the number of nests built per breeding season. At the intraspecific level meanwhile, there is variation in the time taken to build nests, the materials used to build them and the size of final nests. Such plasticity often serves to create a suitable microclimate for parents and offspring, but nests are also receptacles for eggs and nestlings. Thus, the design of nests is likely to reflect a trade-off between the requirement for a structural platform for the nest contents and for the creation of suitable micro-environments.

During the 1920s, retail yards were reluctant to go after a new consumer business due to their loyalty to the lumber trade. In other words, they did not know whether to remain specialized or to ...
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During the 1920s, retail yards were reluctant to go after a new consumer business due to their loyalty to the lumber trade. In other words, they did not know whether to remain specialized or to diversify. After 1905, a new group of lumber dealers offered a new business model that paved the way for home improvement stores, which are more diversified as far as selling building materials are concerned and had the ability to cater to the needs of home improvement consumers. Retailers soon found out that they were facing serious competition from mail-order companies, who, notably Sears and Roebuck, were effective in marketing house kits and generated more sales by offering a new service: credit. Through their catalogs, mail-order companies had revolutionized the advertising of homes. While their main concern was the consumer, kit companies were also interested in how the local building industry would respond. One positive impact of kit companies on dealers was that they forced the latter to rethink their business and to finally think about their consumers.Less

The Birth of the Home Improvement Store

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

During the 1920s, retail yards were reluctant to go after a new consumer business due to their loyalty to the lumber trade. In other words, they did not know whether to remain specialized or to diversify. After 1905, a new group of lumber dealers offered a new business model that paved the way for home improvement stores, which are more diversified as far as selling building materials are concerned and had the ability to cater to the needs of home improvement consumers. Retailers soon found out that they were facing serious competition from mail-order companies, who, notably Sears and Roebuck, were effective in marketing house kits and generated more sales by offering a new service: credit. Through their catalogs, mail-order companies had revolutionized the advertising of homes. While their main concern was the consumer, kit companies were also interested in how the local building industry would respond. One positive impact of kit companies on dealers was that they forced the latter to rethink their business and to finally think about their consumers.

During the Depression, the number of homes being built fell dramatically, creating a need for home improvement. Instead of buying or building anew, home owners had to content themselves with ...
More

During the Depression, the number of homes being built fell dramatically, creating a need for home improvement. Instead of buying or building anew, home owners had to content themselves with modernizing and improving by doing their own repairs and conversions. In order to survive, suppliers of building materials were forced to diversify, advertise, and offer new service packages. As a result, the entire building supply industry had to cooperate in marketing home improvements. But it was only when the federal government, under the authority of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Housing Act (NHA) of 1934, created new forms of credit that the home improvement industry was revived. The NHA, which established the Federal Housing Administration, promoted the construction of suburban single-family dwellings by large builder-developers. Indeed, federal initiatives, particularly the Title I program, set in motion a remarkable boom in amateur building and home improvement after 1945.Less

The State Makes Credit

Richard Harris

Published in print: 2012-08-27

During the Depression, the number of homes being built fell dramatically, creating a need for home improvement. Instead of buying or building anew, home owners had to content themselves with modernizing and improving by doing their own repairs and conversions. In order to survive, suppliers of building materials were forced to diversify, advertise, and offer new service packages. As a result, the entire building supply industry had to cooperate in marketing home improvements. But it was only when the federal government, under the authority of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Housing Act (NHA) of 1934, created new forms of credit that the home improvement industry was revived. The NHA, which established the Federal Housing Administration, promoted the construction of suburban single-family dwellings by large builder-developers. Indeed, federal initiatives, particularly the Title I program, set in motion a remarkable boom in amateur building and home improvement after 1945.